Robert Bragg
Robert L. Bragg (14 September 1937 - 9 February 2017) was an American captain of Boeing 747 aircraft. On 27 March 1977, when the Tenerife airport disaster occured, Robert Bragg was the co-pilot (first officer) on board the Pan Am Flight 1736 747.. Bragg was the last surviving flight crew member, as all 3 members from KLM died in the accident, Flight Engineer George Warns died in 1991, and Captain Victor Grubbs died in 1995. Biography Early life and military training Robert L. Bragg was born on 14 September 1937 in York, Alabama. In 1943 his parents moved to Mobile in Alabama, where his father worked in the mobile shipyard, building Liberty Ships. Later, he went to the university military school. He graduated in 1955. After that, he went to Auburn University, graduating it in 1959. He received a B.S. degrees in aeronautical administration and a second lieutenant's commision in the US Air Force. He began his flight training with preflight. It was conducted at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. After preflight, he went to Bainbridge AB, Georgia and took primary flight training at the airbase. He flew the T-34, T-37B and later in basic flight training, the T-33 aircraft. He was based at Charleston Air Force Base, 76thATS where he transistioned into the C-121C Connie. A year and a half later, he began to fly the C-130E Hercules. He remained in US Air Force for 4 years. During that time, his flying time was approximately 3000 hours. He participated in various missions. He participated in the Mercury astronaut recovery program with eight other C-130s in the squadron. Career as Pan American pilot When he got out of US Air Force, he went to Mobile airport and he wanted to start being an airline pilot. He was told that he will be sent to Miami and he will be interviewed there. He went down and was interviewed at Eastern airline counter. During his walk, he saw the Pan American airways building. He went there and asked them for applying him for a job as pilot. "After I got out of the air force, basically, I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do. I was at the Mobile airport one time and walked up to the Eastern airline counter and asked them how a pilot went about getting a job. They asked me if I was a pilot and I told them I was. They said, 'We will send you to Miami and you will be interviewed down there.' So I went down and interviewed at Eastern and when I was walking back to the hotel I saw the PAN American royal airways building which was commonly referred to as the Taj Mahal, because it was a beautiful building. And I walked in and asked to speak with a chief pilot, Introduced myself, and asked them how would I go applying for a job as pilot." Documentaries * Crash of the Century - Robert L. Bragg was portrayed by Paul Bandey, he was also interviewed * The Deadliest Plane Crash - he was interviewed * Aircrash Confidential - Collisions - he was interviewed * Black Box - Blaming The Pilot - he was interviewed * Air Crash Investigation- Disaster on Tenerife - he was interviewed Category:Pilots Category:Pan Am Flight 1736 Category:Survivors